Customer Reviews

200 Beats per Minute

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To be honest, I have not managed to finish reading the book because it's self indulgent and dull. I have read the 'Ecstacy club' by Douglas Rushkoff and it's along the same lines as this. If you want to understand more about the rave scene, '200 BPM' definitely gives you an accurate picture of the drug scene - the immaturity of the ravers, the escapism, the pathetic search for the next high, the selfishness of party scene and the stupidity as people throw away challenges to face life's realities. If you want to read a good book, this isn't it. The hero wallows in his own self interest, with endless descriptions of his current altered state of being - hardly an interesting topic. You want to shake him and tell him to wake up and start really living life - have the courage to spend days and nights awake and fully conscious. I personally look for books in which at least the hero is inspirational in some way - this isn't that type of book. Definitely not for me.

This book was very compelling and Eddie Beverage when describing the graphic drug details was obviously speaking from experience, however the plot was predictable and the ending was very weak and disappointing.

In this short but action-packed novel, Eddie Beverage tries to counteract the popular media portrayal of the "rave culture" as mainly being about drugs, sex, violence, and a slacker ethic. What he succeeds in showing is that, in fact, the "rave culture" is about drugs, sex, violence, and a slacker ethic.

And did I mention drugs?

I can't imagine that anyone could find the protagonists in this book sympathetic, or even particularly interesting. Aside from the perfunctory declaration of peace, love, respect, etc., that is the pledge-of-allegiance-like mantra of the rave culture, these guys apparently stand for nothing except their own aimless self-indulgence and a voracious appetite for drugs, which they consume in endless quantities and varieties.

Even the material about the music, which could have been the most interesting part of the narrative, is fragmented and perfunctory. The author drops a few names, provides some very basic descriptions of differing electronic music styles, and then quickly returns to his real focus, the drugs.

The young people whose misadventures form the basis for the novel might easily have portrayed as confused and harmless, but Beverage actually shows them to be monsters of a sort. In one section, they invade a private home to use the telephone, but when the homeowner returns unexpectedly, one of the group, high on drugs (of course) beats the hapless gentleman into a coma with a golf club. The reader is "relieved" to learn, however, that the merry band of ravers escapes without arrest and then quickly forgets about the whole incident--hey, whatever!

If Beverage thinks he is going to create sympathy for the rave culture through this kind of effort, he is mistaken. Actually, it would not surprise me at all if the book is a kind of put-on, a parody, or perhaps even something created by a member of the Christian Right in a "mole"-like attempt to make the rave culture appear far more dreary, corrupt, and hopeless than it actually is.

The only reason I gave the book two stars instead of one is that I am guessing the book is the novelist's first book, and he should perhaps be cut a bit of slack in its debut :-).

I would call this reality-based fiction. It is a fictional work (I imagine), but is based in the real life world of the underground dance clubs. This is a wild scene that Mtv and Madonna, with their poor attempts at techno music, have unsuccessfully tried to exploit for cash. The author here hits the mark where they missed - and vividly describes this environment as the setting for a really cool story of friends. I think the media and music companies are now downing techno and the scene, because they couldn't make $, and miss the point with the music and the culture, because it's not about idol worship and product placement, but about young people going out all night and getting crazy with the people that they love. Great job - Eddie! Amazon: Do you have anything else by this author?

to compare this book to the Ecstasy Club is such an insult. yes the characters are self-indulgent. yes they're selfish, bratty and irresponsible. that's the whole point. does anybody get it? it's about what happens when youthful ideals and naieve blue-sky optimism are corrupted by drugs and greed. this is the dark side of the moon. explore it.

A modern 'Catcher in the Rye'.

Eddie - I love you, I remember you as you were struggling with
the world, the book agents, st. martin's press, and rave
culture.

I remember your excitement in this publication 4 years ago.

I remember reading your new manuscripts for "Broken" just
last year - and I eagerly await the release of your new
book. So do it!! Do it now!!

For all the rest of you. 200 BPM is a fantastic read, a great
glimpse into the heart and soul of Americana waiting, struggling
to find an identity in itself in the face of the hypocracy of
suburban life. It engages the self indulgancy of youth, a
phenomenon which is at once beautiful and frightening - the
honesty of its articulation and the playful experimentation of
its release is fantastically well captured in these pages.

Then, with me, eagerly await the release of Eddie's forthcoming
book (as I demand it be forthcoming). A look into the demise
of that very youth, and perhaps a more mature coming of age in
the postmodern precept of adulthood and identity.

ciao!

i could relate. i never read but i couldnt stop reading this book. the only thing i didnt care for was the fact that he was gay . i could say that i felt like there are more people out there like me and that it made my feel great. also i liked when he mentioned djs that i love ,proveing to me that he knew what was up.

Obviously this author's first book, it was frought with typos and other literary faux pas. That being said, the book is entertaining. The author has a wonderful vocabulary and is very expressive, I enjoyed his writing style. However, the character development was slow and choppy. I think the author has alot of potential which will reveal itself better when he writes about more diverse topics instead of drug binges from beginning to end.

I found this book very beneifical. I choose to read this book in hopes of better understanding what it's like to be gay. I strongly believe this was accomplished. The most important thing that I took from this book was seeing how how much love people can have for one another.